Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services.

Why Co-Diagnostics Stock Is Jumping Today

The company announced two new markets for its COVID-19 diagnostics tests.

Keith began writing for the Fool in 2012 and focuses primarily on healthcare investing topics. His background includes serving in management and consulting for the healthcare technology, health insurance, medical device, and pharmacy benefits management industries.
Follow @keithspeights

What happened

Shares of Co-Diagnostics(NASDAQ:CODX) were up 11.4% as of 12:17 p.m. EDT on Monday after rising as much as 15.8% earlier in the day. The strong gains came after the molecular diagnostics company announced that its Logix Smart COVID-19 test has been approved for sale in Mexico, and that the Saragene COVID-19 test made by its joint venture, CoSara, had been cleared for sale in India. Co-Diagnostics CEO Dwight Egan also stated that orders for the Logix Smart COVID-19 test "continue to be strong."

So what

Gaining access to new markets is good news for any company, and these are particularly important ones for Co-Diagnostics. India is the second-most populous country in the world, while Mexico, with approximately 129 million people, is tenth.

Image source: Getty Images.

It's not clear at this point how much Co-Diagnostics' sales will rise as a result of gaining access to these two markets. Several other companies also make COVID-19 tests.

Co-Diagnostics' joint venture could give it an advantage in India, however. CoSara operates a manufacturing facility in Ranoli, India, that has achieved Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification. This facility has a large-scale production capacity that should help CoSara meet demand in the Indian market.

Now what

As of April 20, Co-Diagnostics had shipped its COVID-19 diagnostics tests to more than a dozen states and had received orders from nearly 50 countries. But volumes and sales matter more than geographic reach. It will likely be another couple of months before the company announces its first-quarter results. That's when investors will get more clarity about whether this healthcare company's meteoric share-price rise -- it's up more than 1,500% year to date -- is justified by its performance.